By Candice Zhang

With minimal face-to-face interaction and classroom activities, domestic and international students alike are finding their coursework to be less practical. But in addition to that, international students at George Brown College (GBC) who have returned to their home countries are also presented a new challenge: waking up in the middle of the night to attend their classes.

Sherri Zhang is a second-year GBC student living in China, 12 hours ahead of Toronto time. Since most of her classes take place in what is mid-afternoon in Toronto, Zhang constantly has to drag herself out of bed in the middle of the night to attend lectures.

“If there is a class at 2:00 a.m., I will sleep during the day to make sure I don’t fall asleep during the class at night,” said Sherri Zhang.

Around 30 per cent of GBCs full-time international students are living outside of Canada due to COVID-19. And of the five countries with the most GBC students, three of them (China, India and Vietnam) have over a nine-hour time difference.

Because classes are occurring late at night, some international students feel as though school is beginning to take up their entire lives. Constant homework and alternating sleep schedules make it increasingly difficult to achieve a balance between school, friends, and work. Some say that the problem is more than just an academic and accommodation dilemma.

Jiwon Kim, a second-year GBC fashion management student from South Korea, says that her demanding schedule has greatly impacted her sleeping patterns and physical health.

“After I finished class at 3:00 a.m., I would sleep in the early morning,” Kim said. “Even though I slept the same amount of time [as before], I felt like the quality of sleep was totally different.

Many international students at George Brown College continue to wish that the school would be more accommodating.

“I just wish our school would offer more reductions from our tuition,” said Kim. “I wish there were more advisers for [international students] as well.”

GBC’s administrators say they had already prepared for this situation. Ian Wigglesworth, associate vice president of academics at GBC, says that teachers and faculty members were warned of the time zone difference when delivering online classes.

“Cory Ross, the vice president of academic, reminded the faculty of the struggles in online learning throughout different time zones before the semester started,” said Wigglesworth.

“We are limited with what we can do, but we are trying our best.”

The school continues to provide resources available for students or teachers, and Wigglesworth emphasized that students must seek help when they are faced with an unexpected situation.

“I encourage students to go to video counselling for mental health inquiries,” said Wigglesworth. “Faculty members are trying to accommodate students as best as they can by offering help over email and recording lectures.”

Although the virtual-classroom environment is still a learning process, faculty members are trying to emphasize that the camaraderie between students will help everyone adjust to the process efficiently.

“There is a buddy system that was implemented by some faculty members,” said Wigglesworth. “If a student misses a lecture, another student can help them to catch up.”

Zhang feels more support from the college after every semester. Online learning is difficult but after every class, Zhang thinks that she has become more accustomed to the process. She is also surprised by the support she received from fellow classmates when completing assignments and says that she believes studying abroad in a different time zone does not affect the entire quality of education.

“I think we learn the same thing,” said Sherri Zhang. “Therefore, I don’t think I am wasting more money.”

The transition to online learning is foreign and unexpected, but Wigglesworth says that students should seek out resources whenever possible.

“We have a lot of resources for the students,” said Wigglesworth. “There is the online-learning module, virtual tutoring centre, accessible learning services, video counselling, and online career advising.”

“Every semester, we are improving. There is always room for growth but due to the nature of the pandemic, online learning is inevitable. We just want to finish every semester successfully and continue to be in touch with students if further issues arise.”